The five-time champions Mumbai Indians have already made a massive splash by roping in Hardik Pandya from the Gujarat Titans. Despite Hardik leading Gujarat Titans to consecutive IPL finals, winning one of them, the all-rounder decided to return back to his “home” franchise, where he played from 2015 to 2021.
Mumbai Indians have failed to reach the IPL final for the last three seasons now, and this move to bring back Pandya is their big reinforcement. They traded away Cameron Green to RCB to make a budget to buy some big-name international players in the upcoming IPL 2024 auction, scheduled for December 19.
Mumbai Indians have an INR 17.75 Crore purse, which is a good purse to buy a couple of major picks to complete their first XI. They have 8 slots to fill, importantly, 4 of them are overseas.
Among their released players are Duan Jansen, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Chris Jordan, and Jofra Archer. So it is very clear that MI will target a couple of overseas fast bowlers.
3 overseas players Mumbai Indians might go after in IPL 2024 auction:
Josh Hazlewood
While the first name on everyone’s mind regarding the IPL 2024 auction is that of Mitchell Starc, MI might not be able to buy Starc because of their low budget compared to other teams. But there are plenty of good other overseas pacers available. One of them is Starc’s Australian teammate Josh Hazlewood, who was released by RCB.
Mumbai Indians are likely to show interest in Josh Hazlewood as Hazlewood’s first IPL season was with MI in 2014, but he didn’t get to play then.
An IPL winner with CSK in 2021 and a T20 World Cup winner with Australia in 2021, Hazlewood has picked 35 IPL wickets in 27 matches for CSK and RCB. He has 58 international wickets in 41 T20Is while maintaining a brilliant economy of 7.69.
Gerald Coetzee
Over the years, MI have shown interest in South African pacers. They are fast, have the capability to swing the ball, and, also importantly, are available for the entire IPL season. A hot player in this IPL 2024 auction will be Gerald Coetzee, who made huge waves in the World Cup 2023 in India.
Gerald Coetzee picked 20 wickets in the World Cup. He is fast, has raw pace, and has a passionate wicket celebration, which reminds fans of Dale Steyn. Seeing Coetzee and Bumrah bowl in tandem at the Wankhede would be a sight to behold.
Spencer Johnson
Another young fast bowler who has got some headlines in recent months is the Australian left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson.
Perhaps the biggest moment in Spencer Johnson’s career came earlier this year in The Hundred. On his debut for Oval Invincibles in the Hundred, against Manchester Originals, Johnson returned with figures of 3/1 from 20 balls! He then got to make his T20I debut for Australia in August.
Mumbai Indians have had the liking toward Australian bowlers in the past. Spencer Johnson could be seen in MI colors in IPL 2024.
